Survey: Some seniors confused about law and Medicare

USA TODAY: September 17, 2013

WASHINGTON — About 17% of seniors incorrectly believe the Affordable Care Act replaces their Medicare with insurance policies purchased on line through the state and federal health insurance exchanges, according to a study released exclusively to USA TODAY.

“Some of my concerns were confirmed,” said Rebecca Rabbitt, vice president of government programs at Express Scripts. Even seniors doing their research — and they named everything from the government to TV to friends as sources — had a hard time discerning reality from fiction. “Even with the facts, it’s confusing,” she said.

Some of that confusion is intentional. Advertising has picked up from opponents to the law who would like to see it defunded. Some of it, Rabbitt said, comes because seniors said they don’t trust any one source for information, and some sources give different answers. Read more